Dallas -- RFID World opened in Dallas on Monday, with about 3,000 attendees and 200 booths. Plano, Texas-based Media Cart demonstrated its smart shopping cart in RFID-reader manufacturer ThingMagic's booth. Media Cart CEO Steve Carpenter called it a "kiosk on wheels," which will save shoppers time and money. He said the cart was created to help customers locate products in a store, learn more information about particular products and check out more easily. The carts were deployed March 27 in a northeast grocery store chain on a pilot basis.
The shopping cart is outfitted with a screen on the opposite end of the shopper with a control pad on the cart's handle. Using an RFID reader, the cart will display advertising in the bottom portion of the screen as it passes RFID tags mounted on shelves. For example, an ad for a particular brand of bottled water will appear when the shopper goes near the bottled water aisle. Shoppers can also use the barcode to scan items before placing them in the cart to keep a running total. Once the designated check-out lane is reached, the cart communicates wirelessly to the POS system for quick check out.
Other features include store map and product locator, recipes, shopping lists and cross promotions. The carts only cost retailers about $150 each since Media Cart's main source of revenue comes from advertising. Carpenter said the company has 31 brands participating in the pilot.